Don't Tell Diego
by MusicRocks807
Summary: Delayed birthday one-shot for the voice of Shira, Jennifer Lopez. Having experienced nothing but bad birthdays her whole life, Shira tries her hardest to keep it from everybody in the herd, especially a certain male sabre...but will she succeed?


**Again, I'm kinda late, because yesterday was Shira's (Jennifer Lopez) birthday, but oh well, it got to around midnight and I thought it would be sorta stupid to carry on, so I posted it this morning. Anyway, please enjoy anyway :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age.**

Don't Tell Diego

Shira awoke nervously, eyes flitting around the surrounding area. Alright, nothing out of order for the moment. Manny was snoozing soundly on a mossy bank; Ellie, Peaches, Crash and Eddie were all hanging from a tree beside him; Sid was sleeping on a smooth rock, with his Granny on an identical rock nearby; Louis, who had slept over the previous night, had dug a small hole in the ground to sleep in; and Diego…oh, Diego.

Diego was cuddled right up to Shira, with one of his forelegs wrapped protectively around her shoulders, the other supporting her chin. She giggled; he was so cute when he was asleep! Of course, despite the adorableness of the situation, she needed to get up, and Diego's tight grip around her, even in his unconscious state, was making that difficult. In a perfect world, he'd roll over in his sleep – preferably _not _taking her with him! – and she'd be able to get out of here before it happened. Yeah. That was _so _likely. It wasn't as if a major part of life itself was cruel, harsh _reality _or anything…oh wait, it was.

Shira knew _that _better than anyone. Why do you think she was so eager to leave the herd's hang out today? How come there was a constant aching inside her every year, when this day came? What were all those salty tears doing welling up in her eyes, preparing to spill over…? It was all because of her traumatic past. Her traumatic past that made living under the command 'Captain Crazy', as Manny had called him, seem like a casual stroll in the forest, complete with pretty flowers and someone special beside you…okay, so her past wasn't bad enough to do _all _that, but it was still horrific. She _still _had nightmares about it, and she could barely _remember_ a time before Captain Gutt and his crew! Well…she _definitely _couldn't remember a _happy _time before – or during, for that matter – her life at sea.

Finally, Shira came up with a plan that would hopefully allow her to get out of here before she started crying and woke the herd. Carefully, she wriggled out from Diego's forelegs, and from his body, since he was sort of smothering her during his rest, literally. But, after a painfully long and slow process, she worked her way free and crawled a little bit away from her new family. Don't get the wrong idea; Shira had no problem with the herd, it was just…today was special, and she wanted to cry her heart out about how miserable it made her in private, was that so much to ask? No, she didn't think it was.

Silently, she slipped out of the clearing entirely, under the assumption that she had gone unnoticed. This was, in fact, incorrect. A certain sloth, going by the name of Sid, had woken up during her escape, as he had flopped around too much in his sleep and just plain fallen off of his rock, and witnessed the whole thing. Of course, he had no clue what was wrong with Shira. He just assumed something had gone wrong with her and Diego last night, but they had seemed so peaceful, all snuggled up like that…what was going on with her?

Well, Shira was his friend, and Sid _always _liked to know about his friends' lives. He was going to find out what was troubling Shira, he decided firmly, and he really meant it. _She looked so sad when she left…what's upsetting her? Why didn't she tell anyone? You'd think she would've at least woken Diego…wait a minute. It was as if she was _trying _to avoid him waking up…_he realised, but he was confused, _I just…don't get it. Why? Isn't she happy here? I have to know…for her sake, as well as the fact my curiosity is probably gonna keep me awake anyway now._

So, it was with those thoughts in his mind that Sid left the clearing also, following the almost invisible pawprints of the newest herd member, determined to find out what was troubling her so, and why she had kept it from the rest of them. It was his new, self-assigned mission…actually, he was just worried she'd leave, since he loved all of his herd, but it sounded so much more…important, when he put it like that…and it felt so _cool _to feel important! Just for a change…

After a while of walking, Shira reached a decent area for her to let her feelings out. Shoulders shaking with the rush of her emotions, the silver sabre dropped at the base of a large oak tree, tears streaking her cheeks. Sid, watching from the bushes, felt a pang of sadness for her, but remained hidden, allowing her to have her private time.

"Oh, I _hate _this day!" she sobbed, looking up at the still-partially-dark, eyes still decorated with tears "Why does this even have to exist?! Well…actually, that is a stupid thing to say, but whatever! I don't _want _it to exist! Yeah, I'd be dead, so what? At least I wouldn't have nightmares my whole life, day _and _night, since my life wouldn't exist! Ugh…I wish I could just go back in time and drown myself before Gutt found me…"

"No!" exclaimed Sid, rushing out of the bushes and flinging his arms around Shira "You don't wanna do that! _Why_ would you wanna do that? Shira, are me and the herd the nightmares you have in the day? C'mon, spill, I want to know what's wrong with you!"

"And I wanna know what's wrong with _you_!" spat Shira, shoving the sloth away from her "How dare you spy on me? And at a point in time where I was emotionally unstable, too! So tell me Sid, what's wrong with _you_?"

Sid was at a loss for words, but eventually he came up with something. "Look, Shira, I'm sorry but…I wanted to know what was the matter, because-"

"Because you wanted to blackmail me with it, right? Have me do whatever you say in return for you keeping quiet, right? Yeah well, it's not gonna work Sid, I've had enough of that in my life…" Shira finally concluded her emotion-driven rant, turning away from the sloth, staring at the grass in a depressed manner.

"Shira," Sid placed a paw on her shoulder "Things don't work like that in this herd. We don't blackmail each-other…at least, not with stuff this serious. Because this does seem pretty serious, Shira. Something's really troubling you, and, as a member of your herd, I actually do _care_ about your emotions and well-being."

A moment of utter silence passed, before Shira finally gave in, forcing herself to ignore Sid's scent as she embraced him gratefully. Yes, a sabre and a sloth hugging was very strange…but they both felt comforted by it. Shira because someone finally cared about her, and Sid because Shira wasn't angry with him anymore. Nothing scarier than a ticked off sabretooth tiger…

"So…" Sid hesitated "What…_was_ the matter?"

Shira sighed. "It's just…okay, this'll probably sound really stupid but…today's my birthday, and I've just always hated it so much and-"

"Wait, why do you hate your birthday?" asked Sid, confused. Everybody loved birthdays! You got to eat special food, people gave you gifts, you had a big party…what was there to hate?

"Because my dad didn't want me, so he used to beat me up every year," she explained "Sort of a punishment for…well, existing, I guess."

"Seriously?" said Sid "That's…that's just terrible! Who could do that to their kid?!"

"My dad," she shrugged "It's no big deal Sid, it was just my life. End of story."

"Yeah, but…"

"End of story," she repeated firmly "Now you have to promise me you won't tell anybody in the herd that it's my birthday. Do you promise?"

"But Shira, no-one's gonna do anything bad to you here!" insisted Sid "We're a herd, the only thing they'd do is set up some kind of party for you or something!"

"I don't _want_ them to, Sid!" she pressed "Just promise me you won't say anything!"

Sid sighed. "Fine, I won't say anything. I promise."

"Good," she replied "Now, if you don't mind, I'd kinda like to just go off on a walk for a while, okay?"

"Sure," he informed her, waving goodbye "See ya later."

"See ya."

Sid watched as Shira walked away, leaving him all on his own. "Okay Sid, all you've gotta do, is not tell _anyone_ the secret. It's that easy. You've just gotta keep your mouth shut…keep your mouth shut…keep your mouth- ugh, why do you keep saying stuff?!" he scolded himself "Shut up before you accidentally tell someone the secret about it being-"

"The secret about it being what?" asked Peaches, appearing beside her sloth uncle.

"Peaches?!" he exclaimed "Where did you come from?!"

"Well, my parents say the stork, but the Brat Pack says-"

"Okay new rule: you can't talk to the Brat Pack about this ever again," ordered Sid.

Peaches rolled her eyes. "Okay. So what's the big secret?"

"S-secret? N-no, no secret, none at all…" he lied, not so smoothly.

"So why are you so nervous?" Peaches interrogated her uncle, before smiling "C'mon Uncle Sid, you know you can trust me!"

"Well…" Sid considered it for a moment "No, I promised I wouldn't say anything to anyone!"

"About what?"

"About the fact that it's Shira's birthda- oh, dang it!" he snapped, annoyed at how he'd accidentally let the secret out.

Peaches raised her eyebrows. "Really? How come that's such a big secret?"

"Because she hates her birthday and doesn't want anyone to know about it so PLEASE DON'T TELL HER I TOLD YOU!" shouted Sid, holding Peaches' tusks.

She nodded. "I got it. I won't tell anyone," she told him, before walking away and whispering "Except Louis, of course. But Louis is quiet, he wouldn't tell anybody…"

Around fifteen minutes later, Peaches finally reached the new 'hang-out' for the Brat Pack and the other teens, where she knew Louis was waiting for her. The whole group was gathered, but nothing was going on of particular interest, there was just hanging out together.

Surprisingly, Louis was very easy to spot, since he isolated himself from the mammoths. Sure, they didn't really tease him that much after the incident with Captain Gutt, but he still didn't really feel comfortable around them without Peaches there. It was understandable, after all, the mammoths – and most of the other teenagers, for that matter! – could easily crush the molehog under one of their feet.

"Hey, Louis!" she called, waving with his trunk "C'mere, I've got something to tell you!"

"Hi Peaches!" he chimed, hurrying over to his friend "What do you need to tell me?"

"It's a secret, Louis, so you can't tell _anyone_," she warned him.

Louis crossed his arms. "Peaches, who am I gonna tell? You're like, my only friend."

"We've been over this Louis! Ethan and that like you! Anyway, the secret is…" she picked him up with her trunk and carried him a little way away from the crowds, before whispering to him "Today is Auntie Shira's birthday, according to Uncle Sid, but it's a big secret because she hates it. I don't know why, though."

"Woah…" breathed Louis "That's, uhm…different…"

She nodded. "I know, right?"

Unbeknownst to the two friends, a pair of possum twins were spying on them, and had heard every word of it, despite the fact Peaches was whispering, as they were close enough to hear. Literally, they were on the lowest branch of the closest tree to the duo.

"Hey, did you hear that, Crash?"

"Uhm…_you're _Crash, I'm _Eddie_," his brother pointed out.

Crash blushed. "Oh, right, sorry. Anyway, did you hear what Peach said?"

"About it being Shira's birthday? Yeah, but I don't get what the big deal is," admitted Eddie.

"The big deal is: now we have a secret!" upon seeing Eddie's confusion, he elaborated with "One that we can blackmail her with! Y'know, to get her to do stuff for us!"

"Oh, right…" Eddie adopted a grin "Cool!"

"Yep! Now let's go!" Crash smiled "Ready, Eddie?"

"Hey, you got my name right!" complimented Eddie, high-fiving his brother, before they both took off to find Shira.

Ellie was walking through the woods with Manny, her loving mate. Neither of the mammoths really had a purpose that day, they were just enjoying the scenery…and getting away from Diego, since the poor guy was pacing around in the herd's clearing, wondering where Shira was. She wasn't there when he woke up, and he hadn't seen her since…so, as you can guess, Diego was not in the best of moods.

"Manny, where _do_ you think Shira went?" asked Ellie "I mean, she's hardly left Diego's side since she joined the herd, and now she suddenly disappears? It seems kinda odd…"

"I guess, but Ellie, what part of our herd _isn't_ odd?" Manny shrugged "Maybe she just wanted a day to herself. Diego _has_ been pretty obsessive over her lately, after all."

"Maybe, but-" Ellie was cut off when her two brothers dropped out of the sky. Seriously, they fell from the tree and landed on Manny's head, startling the mammoth.

"Wha-what the…Crash? Eddie?" Manny was confused "Why did you two jump on my head?!"

"Actually, we _fell_ on your head," Eddie corrected him "And it was an accident."

"Yeah, we were just looking for Shira!" explained Crash.

Ellie seemed slightly suspicious. "_Why_…?"

"It's just, uhm…" Crash thought fast "We just wanted to…know, where she is…yeah, that's it, we, we got worried…"

"Huh?" inquired Eddie "Crash, I thought we were gonna blackmail her into doing stuff by telling her we know it's her birthday? You said it'd work, since she doesn't want anyone to know…"

Crash slapped his brother. "Shut up!"

"Boys!" snapped Ellie "That's very wrong of you to want to blackmail a fellow herd member!"

"I didn't even know it _was_ her birthday…"Manny thought aloud.

Ellie shrugged. "Me either. She really must've wanted it to stay a secret. So…" she turned to her brothers "Neither of you will mention it to anyone, understood?"

"Understood…" sighed the possum twins, dejectedly.

"_Especially _Diego," clarified Ellie.

"Got it," promised the boys.

**_That night_**

Shira wandered casually back into the cave, only to be tackled and pinned to the ground by Diego. He stared down at her wordlessly, seeming incredibly mad for some reason. Then, his 'anger' faded away, and he kissed her passionately.

"…woah…" she panted, after they parted.

"Where the Hyrax were you today?!" he demanded, acting unaffected by the kiss, even though he was usually the one left light-headed after any romantic activity between the couple.

Shira looked around, confused. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"Where were you?" he repeated "I was worried sick! I woke up and you were nowhere to be seen and I haven't seen you _all day_!"

"Sorry…" Shira shrank back a little "I didn't think you'd care that much…."

"Why would I not care?!" he asked, nuzzling her "I love you, and your my mate! If I lost you, I'd…I'd…I don't know what I'd do."

She laughed. "You'll never lose me Diego."

"And you'll never lose me," he swore, before getting up and taking her by the paw "Now, come on, let's go for a little walk."

"Where are we going?" questioned Shira.

Diego smiled mysteriously. "You'll see…Kitty."

Shira growled, but didn't argue against the use of her nickname for once, as Diego was already leading her away from the herd's clearing and out into the forest. Her heart was thumping in her chest already as she imagined the possibilities of what he was going to do with her…

Finally, after a short trek, the pair arrived at a small cave in a rock wall. Diego silently lead her inside, taking her to the very back of the cave, before lying down, holding out his forelegs, as if inviting her in closer. Not likely to decline, Shira snuggled up to him willingly, relishing the feeling as he nibbled playfully on one of her ears.

"Hey, quit it, Softie!" she joked, but really she loved it, and he knew it.

He shook his head. "Nah, I don't think I will."

"Fine then, but you asked for it," she replied, before licking his throat seductively, just managing to hold back a purr herself. He, on the other hand, didn't succeed, and was soon purring like crazy. Unable to resist, Shira laughed heartily.

Diego scowled. "Hey, it's not my fault I purred, okay?"

"Maybe not, but it still proves you're soft," Shira told him, shrugging. Frowning, Diego turned away, lying on his side so he wasn't looking at her. Thinking she may have gone too far and upset him, Shira cautiously shuffled closer to him, so that she was leaning against his back.

"Diego?"

He didn't answer, he just lay there, silently. All of a sudden, Diego whipped around, taking Shira by surprise and pinning her to the floor of the cave. Grinning like the Cheshire cat, Diego lay down on top of her and kissed her lovingly. She didn't argue, she just kissed him back.

After about ten seconds, the pair remembered that they needed to breathe, so Diego pulled away from her. Neither of them said anything, they were just content cuddling up to each other in the back of the cave. Finally, Diego smiled and leaned in closer, pressing his lips to her ear.

"Happy birthday, Kitty," he whispered.

Her eyes widened. "How did you know?" she asked "I only told Sid!"

"Yeah, but I knew anyway," he told her "You're my mate; I know everything about you…"

"Seriously?" she inquired.

"Yeah…" he smirked "Plus you talk in your sleep."

She frowned playfully. "So, why didn't you tell me you knew?

"I thought it would be funny when you found out," he explained, still smirking.

"Well, joke's on you," she replied, with a smirk of her own "I wouldn't have disappeared this morning if I knew you knew about it."

Diego's face fell. "Oh…yeah, I guess that kinda did backfire on me, didn't it?"

She giggled. "Yep. But I'm here now."

"True," he stated with a smile "So we have to make up for all the bad birthdays you've had, right?"

"What do you-" began Shira, but she was cut off when Diego's lips connected with hers again. And that was pretty much the theme of the night, for those two: pure romance and caring. So, for the first time in her life, Shira could think to herself as she fell asleep that night, _I think I might've been wrong about my birthday…maybe it's not all bad after all…_

**Done! Yeah, I know, not one of my longest, but still, I hope it was okay. Thanks for reading, and please review! Oh, and for people who are waiting on new chapters for Roshan's Return and The Girls In The Ice Age, I do actually have ideas for the next chapters of both, so hopefully they'll be up at some point.**

**Newsflash ****- I know it's the summer, so technically I should have ****_more_**** time for , but I am gonna be really busy this summer, so I might have to put some of my work on hiatus. I'll still write, probably on my tablet, but I might not be able to post until either after, or partway through, summer. I might, though, still be reading, reviewing and maybe PMing, since I can just use my phone or tablet for that :)**

**Thanks for understanding! xD**

**~MusicRocks807 xxx**


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